No. 2 Kansas (27-4, 14-2) earned a first round bye, as well as the top seed in the conference tournament after their defeat of Texas to take home the regular season championship. As the Jayhawks prepare for another run in the conference tournament, the two teams vying for a spot in the second round took to the court Thursday in Oklahoma City, Okla. The Oklahoma Sooners (16-14, 6-10) took down the Iowa State Cyclones, giving themselves another shot at top-seeded KU at 11:30 CST on Friday.

The last time these two teams met, it was February, and senior night in Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla. The night was setup for an upset win over then third-ranked Kansas.

The Jayhawks struggled to pull away from the Sooners after jumping out to 33-19 halftime lead. OU head coach Jeff Capel turned up the full-court press against KU, forcing the Jayhawks into16 turnovers.

Oklahoma would actually outscore KU by 12 in the second half, but Julian Wright and Mario Chalmers would finish with 18 points a piece, leading the Jayhawks to a huge 67-65 victory.

Key free throws down the stretch from junior guard Russell Robinson sealed the deal for KU, and kept the Jayhawks in position to win the regular season title, which they would eventually do.